English Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday struggled to gain the draw they needed at LASK, finishing 3-3 thanks to two penalties, to secure a place in the round-of-32 of the UEFA Europa League.
The result in Austria ensured that Royal Antwerp also advanced from Group J.
Elsewhere, SC Braga, AC Milan, Lille OSC, Villarreal, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Slavia Prague, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Rangers, SL Benfica, Granada and PSV Eindhoven ensured their places in the round-of-32 with one round of group games still to play.
Photo: EPA-EFE
They join Leicester City, Arsenal, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and AS Roma, who had already qualified.
In Linz, hosts LASK dominated the first half, but only scored once, through Peter Michorl.
Spurs, who had not managed a shot on target, won a penalty for handball in stoppage-time. Gareth Bale converted for his 200th career goal.
Son Heung-min then put Spurs ahead on the counterattack in the 56th minute, but with LASK still threatening, Tottenham coach Jose Mourinho made a series of defensive substitutions.
Spurs had three centerbacks, three fullbacks and two defensive midfielders on the pitch by the 84th minute when Johannes Eggestein still found a huge hole in the defense and lashed in a shot that Joe Hart reached, but could not keep out.
Three minutes later, Spurs regained the lead. One of the two attacking players, Steven Bergwijn, was tripped to earn a penalty and the other, Dele Alli, swept it home.
However, Spurs failed to keep hold of the lead when Mamoudou Karamoko smashed in an equalizer from outside the penalty area in stoppage-time.
Mourinho complained about the attitude of some of his players.
“The fact that the Europa League group phase doesn’t motivate some of the players, I knew it,” Mourinho said. “When I saw the warm-up before the game I had a feeling, and I told the players before the game that there was a huge difference in intensity, communication and enthusiasm in their warm-up and our warm-up, because I was looking at both.”
The draw was enough to see Tottenham advance and next week they host Royal Antwerp, who beat Ludogorets 3-1, with first place in the group at stake.
In Group H, AC Milan fell two goals behind at home to eliminated Celtic, but rallied to win 4-2 and advance.
Tom Rogic and Odsonne Edouard scored for the visitors in the first 14 minutes, but Hakan Calhanoglu and Samuel Castillejo responded with two quick goals midway through the first half. Jens Petter Hauger and Brahim Diaz, with a clever chip, struck in the second.
“The lads wanted to test me, to see if I’d recovered,” said Milan coach Stefano Pioli, back on the bench after a bout of COVID-19. “I’m happy for the reaction and the comeback, but also for qualifying with one round to spare. In this unprecedented time, with so many matches close together, it’s good to be able to catch your breath.”
Milan are second in the group, one point behind Lille, who also came from behind to win at home.
Burak Yilmaz came off the bench in the 77th minute with Lille losing to 10-man Sparta Prague. The Turkey striker poked home the equalizer three minutes later and smashed in the winner four minutes after that.
Rangers advanced with 3-2 home victory over Royal Standard de Liege.
The Belgian side, who needed to win, took the lead twice in the first half, but Rangers were level at halftime.
Scott Arfield then won the game in the 65th minute, running onto a pullback to end a crisp move with a precise low drive.
“We showed tonight what a team we are,” Arfield said.
The tightest group is F, where Dutch side AZ fought back to draw 1-1 with SSC Napoli and La Liga leaders Real Sociedad came from behind twice to draw at home with HNK Rijeka, who picked up their first point.
The Italian side lead by two points from Sociedad and AZ, and host the Basque side next week.
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